Business news

Business

When a robot becomes the boss: Exploring authority, obedience and relationships with machines

How does a robot perform as a boss at work? The results of research by Polish scientists published in Cognition, Technology & Work suggest that while robots can command obedience, they are not as proficient at it as humans. ...

Consumer & Gadgets

YouTube influencers: Gaming's best friend or worst enemy?

YouTube influencers are shaping the gaming industry in unexpected ways, and a new study in the journal Marketing Science uncovers the surprising truth: Although influencers can drive massive engagement with video games, they ...

Business

Intel hires former board member as new CEO in struggling chipmaker's latest comeback attempt

Struggling chipmaker Intel has hired former board member and semiconductor industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as the latest in a succession of CEOs to attempt to turn around a once-dominant company that helped define Silicon Valley.

Business

Games industry still a hostile environment for many women

Five years on from a first wave of harassment scandals that rocked the world of gaming, multiple women working in the industry tell AFP they have seen or experienced sexism in the workplace, fearing economic hardship in the ...

Business

US tech firm Salesforce to invest $1.0 bn in Singapore

US cloud software giant Salesforce said Wednesday it planned to invest $1.0 billion in Singapore over the next five years to boost the use of artificial intelligence agents (AI) in the workforce.

Consumer & Gadgets

What is the 'digital gender gap?'

Digital technologies, such as the internet and mobile phones, have spread widely, and become integral to many parts of our lives. Yet women continue to lag behind men in digital access in many countries.

Consumer & Gadgets

The impact of app crashes on consumer engagement

High-profile mobile app crashes reveal how life can be upended when an app freezes abruptly or shuts down. The Sonos app crash in May of last year left users of the wireless multi-room sound systems unable to do things like ...

Business

Texas tech boom: Silicon Valley's southern outpost rises

Held every year in the capital of conservative-leaning Texas, the South by Southwest festival increasingly celebrates the state's emergence as a technology hub stepping out of Silicon Valley's shadow.

Business

Mexico hails $5 bn Amazon investment in face of Trump threats

Mexico on Tuesday trumpeted a multibillion-dollar investment pledge from Amazon as a sign of a "great future" awaiting Latin America's second-largest economy, despite US President-elect Donald Trump's threat of a trade war.

Business

Norway finds Air France seating policy discriminatory

Norway's anti-discrimination tribunal found Air France's policy against seating men next to unaccompanied children to prevent any possibility of predatory behavior to be discriminatory, a passenger said Tuesday.

Business

Sonos CEO to step down after disastrous app overhaul

Sonos Chief Executive Patrick Spence is stepping down and leaving the company's board in a shake-up that comes as the wireless speaker maker tries to win back the trust of its customers.

Business

Trial over Apple App Store 'surcharge' opens in UK

Apple was accused Monday of abusing the dominant position of its app store at the start of a court trial in the UK, with plaintiffs seeking £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in damages.

Business

Ubisoft bruised but not broken by 'Assassin's Creed' delay

French video game publisher Ubisoft's second delay to the next installment of its flagship "Assassin's Creed" series forced it to lower financial forecasts, but the step is not uncommon in a sector where players' first impressions ...

Business

PM vows 'pro-growth' rules to make Britain an 'AI superpower'

Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday laid out his vision to harness the power of artificial intelligence to boost Britain's flagging economy, promising "pro-growth" regulations amid concerns about the technology's unchecked ...

Business

Supreme Court looks poised to uphold TikTok ban

The US Supreme Court appeared likely on Friday to uphold a law that would force TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the wildly popular online video-sharing platform or shut it down.